


All In A Day's Work

by vic_amy_z



Category: Castle, Franklin & Bash
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-25
Updated: 2012-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-06 00:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/412770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vic_amy_z/pseuds/vic_amy_z
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what happens when two lawyers from Infeld & Daniels drop into the NYPD's 12th precinct...</p>
            </blockquote>





	All In A Day's Work

**Author's Note:**

> I blame [merlins_sister](http://archiveofourown.org/users/merlins_sister/pseuds/merlins_sister) for this completely - Just because Franklin & Bash made an appearance in her Castle fic does not mean that they had to return the favour! Warning - slightly cracktastic crossover ahead... Also, please add _'police procedures'_ to the list of things that I know nothing about.

The halls of the NYPD's 12th precinct were totally used to having lawyers walk down them. What they weren't used to, however, was having lawyers zoom down them on a chair that was being used as a skateboard! Not that Jared Franklin or Peter Bash were like most lawyers and therefore they had no problem with arriving in the bullpen in style.

**~~~~~~~~**

Detective Kate Beckett looked up from her desk, saw two men riding an office chair across the floorboards and yelled, 'Castle! Some people are here to see you...' before calmly returning to her paperwork.

'Why do you always assume that the crazy ones are here to see me?' Castle asked with a sigh as he scooted past her desk and headed to intercept the incoming chair before it could crash into anything.

'Just playing the odds, Castle,' she replied, hiding her grin behind a monitor.

'Can we help you gentlemen?' Castle asked, addressing the occupants of the now-stationery chair.

'See, I told you it was true,' the taller of the two hissed. 'Sorry about the entrance,' he continued, hopping off the back of the chair and adjusting his suit, 'It's just that you have way better floors than we do and, well, we couldn't resist.'

'And you would be...?' Castle prompted.

'Sorry, Peter Bash with Infeld & Daniels,' he held out a hand towards Castle. 'I just wanted to say that I am a huge fan. I've read all your books and the new _'Nikki Heat'_? Wow!'

'Jared Franklin, also with Infeld & Daniels,' Castle shook hands with the second lawyer. 'I get him to read out the good parts of all your books. They could use some more sex, by the way.'

'Thanks for the critique,' Castle replied with a wry smile.

'Sorry, are you representing someone we're holding here?' Kate walked over to join the conversation, her interest piqued. She knew that Infeld & Daniels had offices in New York but right now she was waiting on one lawyer in particular, and she didn't think that it was either of these two.

'Oh, no,' Peter said, 'We're from the LA office but we're over here for a case. Some of our fellow Partners told us that the NYPD had an interesting collaboration going on with a writer. And when we heard that it was Rick Castle...'

'You just had to come over here and meet the man himself,' Kate finished, rolling her eyes the way she always did when she came across one of Castle's fans.

'You're just jealous...' Castle mouthed quietly at her.

'And of course,' Peter continued, turning his attentions towards Kate, 'The inspiration behind the formidable Nikki Heat. Who I'm guessing is you?' he asked, gesturing with one hand before placing it casually on her waist. 'It is an absolute honour to...'

'You have about three seconds to remove that hand, Mr Bash, before you lose it for good,' she said, her voice calm and even, but hinting that he'd be wise to find somewhere else to put the offending appendage before he discovered whether she was joking or not.

'Whoa! Look at that,' Jared cut in, rushing to his friend's side. 'That can't be a good decision. We're just gonna take that off you,' he grabbed hold of Peter's hand and pushed his partner hurriedly behind him, 'And then we're gonna retire to a safe distance...'

'You might wanna try Wyoming?' Castle suggested, helpfully.

With Jared standing directly in front of her, he looked up and said, 'Wow, you _really_ are...'

'I'd strongly advise you not to complete that sentence, Mr Franklin.'

'Tall - was gonna say tall, honest!' he backed away, still keeping Peter behind him.

'Well, as much as I appreciate the circus coming to town, as neither of you are the lawyer I'm currently waiting on, I strongly suggest that you say your goodbyes and get the hell out of my precinct...'

'So, you don't have any room on the team for a couple of consulting lawyers then?' Peter asked hopefully.

'... Before I handcuff you for staring at my ass and turn your partner here into a pencil topper!'

Instead of taking offence at her threats, the pair of them just held their hands up in surrender, laughing. As much as she didn't want the dog and pony show happening in her office, she had a sneaking suspicion that watching them both in a courtroom could be some of the best entertainment that a city had to offer. 

As they carried on talking to Castle, Kate turned her attention back to the case in hand. They guy they had in custody was... well, she'd call him a nasty piece of work but quite frankly that just gave other nasty pieces of work a bad name. This wasn't the first time he'd crossed her path either, but she'd underestimated him last time and he'd got off on a technicality. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again. This time, Kate wanted it so much she could practically taste it. She scanned the papers on her desk and then called over to Ryan, 'Hey, who is it we're waiting on again?'

Ryan rifled through the file in his hand. 'Um... I think his lawyer's somebody Franklin,' he said, still trying to locate the information. 'The guy's supposed to be a real shark too.'

' _Leonard_ Franklin?' came a voice from the other side of the office.

'Yeah, that's the one,' Ryan said, looking up at Jared. 'Hey, any relation?'

Jared nodded slowly. 'He's my father.'

**~~~~~~~~**

'Oh really?' Kate replied, standing and placing her hands on her hips, looking hard at Jared. 'So you just _happen_ to show up in my precinct, on the day that your father just _happens_ to be here, representing someone I would not lose any sleep over if their key happened to get thrown away. Let me guess; _'like father like son'_?'

'Hey! I am _nothing_ like my father!' Jared said, watching Kate blanch a little at the ferocity of his words.

'He's right,' Peter added, moving a little closer to his partner, 'For a start, Jared actually has a soul... And a reflection!' 

'And I can help you,' Jared said, which came as a surprise to everyone - including Jared. His first reaction at the mention of his father's name was usually to run like hell in the opposite direction.

'You sure about this?' Peter asked him quietly. Jared gave him a quick nod. 

'Okay, I'm listening...' Kate offered, taking a seat on the edge of her desk.

'I'm guessing that the guy you have in custody is a Grade-A scumbag? Am I right?'

Kate nodded. 'That would be something of an understatement, but yes.'

'Which is exactly the kind of client that my dad lives for,' Jared continued, warming to his topic. 'He's defended a hundred guys like him, he's got a list of tricks a mile long and he's not afraid to go through every single play until he finds the one that'll get his client off. Anything to get that win,' Jared finished with feeling. 

'And I'm guessing that there's not a lot of love lost between you and daddy dearest on that score?' Castle ventured.

'You got that right,' Peter muttered.

'Let's just say that we might share a last name, but the similarities end there.' Jared turned back to Kate, 'He's gonna be one step ahead of you at every turn. The only way to win is to make sure that you're two steps ahead of that.'

'Okay, so where do you come in?' Kate asked, shifting her position slightly.

'Simple,' Jared said, 'You tell me all about the guy you've got in custody, and I'll tell you everything you can expect from Leonard Franklin.'

Kate stood up abruptly and grabbed a legal pad and a pen. 'Okay, we're gonna need an interview room and about...?' She shot a questioning look at Jared.

'Twenty minutes?' he said quickly. Jared had a strange feeling that Kate was not someone you wanted to piss off when she asked you a question.

'Good. Ryan, Esposito... if this shark arrives in that time - stall him. I don't care what you have to do; lie, cheat, steal, just never tell me.'

Esposito nodded. 'Plausible deniability boss, got it!'

'You,' she pointed at Jared, 'Come with me,' and she stalked off towards what Jared assumed were the interview rooms.

'Peter,' he said quietly, walking slowly past his partner but not taking his eyes off the direction of Kate's retreating footsteps, 'I know I got us into this, but please don't leave me with her...'

'Right behind you, buddy,' came the reassuring voice of his best friend, followed by the slightly less reassuring and decidedly more anxious, 'Mr Castle? Any chance you might be joining us? Please?' 

'Don't panic, boys,' Castle said with a smug grin, 'I'll walk you through _'Beckett 101'_.'

'This week, would be nice!' Kate yelled from down the hall.

'Seriously though, we should make that a brisk walk...'

And as Jared followed his partner and a best-selling author into a police interview room to talk to a Detective about his father, he wondered exactly how Peter's suggestion of _'Come on, we'll just stop by - what's the worst that could happen?'_ had got them to this...?

**~~~~~~~~**

Fifteen minutes later, all four of them were back in the squad room and Detective Beckett was certainly feeling a whole lot happier. Who knew that an impromptu visit from a couple of Castle's fans would turn out to be so productive? She'd have to add this one to her ever-growing list of _'Reasons Why It's Worth Keeping Castle Around'_. Y'know, for the next time she was forced to defend her choice of team...

'Thank you,' she said, smiling and shaking hands with both lawyers. 'You might just have given us the edge we needed on this.'

'Bet that whole _'consulting lawyers'_ idea's not looking so bad right now, huh?' Peter said hopefully.

'Don't push your luck, Mr Bash,' she warned with a friendly glare and returned to her desk to go over her notes. She wanted to be prepared for anything, and thanks to Jared, she was starting to feel like she actually was. When she looked up from the file a few minutes later, Castle was still holding court. 'Are you people _still_ in my precinct?' she asked wearily.

'Just saying goodbye now, we promise,' Peter called over.

'Beckett?' At the sound of her name, she turned towards Esposito, 'Leonard Franklin's on his way up.'

'And now we're _really_ outta here,' Jared said, grabbing his partner's jacket. 'You guys got a side exit to this place?'

'Down the hall, second door on the left,' Ryan offered helpfully, apparently ignoring the look that Kate was throwing in his direction.

'We still on for drinks later?' Peter called to Castle as Jared dragged him towards the way out.

'Maclaren's at eight!' he called back, then, 'What?' as Kate rolled her eyes at him.

**~~~~~~~~**

Peter had been fawning all over Rick Castle for about twenty minutes when Jared saw him look over towards the door of the bar, his face lighting up as he said, 'Beckett, what a lovely surprise!'

Jared turned to see Detective Kate Beckett, trailed by Ryan and Esposito, striding towards their table, a strange look on her face. 'You!' she said, pointing at Jared.

Instinctively, Jared stood up. That way, Kate would only be about six inches taller than him, instead of six feet! 'It wasn't me, I didn't do it,' he blurted out, 'It was probably Peter!'

That got him a whispered, 'Good strategy...' from Castle, and a, 'Oh thanks, dude!' from Peter.

'You are absolutely the...! I could just...!'

Without any further explanation, she grabbed hold of Jared's face with both hands and planted a huge kiss on his lips. It took Jared a second to realise that he didn't actually appear to be in any kind of danger and he was just entertaining the idea of attempting to join in when she pulled away again, leaving him slightly dazed. One thing was for sure, he'd never think about Nikki Heat in the same way again... 

'You were right!' she said ecstatically to Jared, still holding his face before seeming to remember to let him go. 'He tried every trick you said he would, and we were ready for every single one of them. In the end, he had no choice but to accept a deal. His client is about to go away for a _very_ long time!' Kate was clearly delighted with this result.

'It _was_ a beautiful thing,' Ryan agreed.

'And are you two here to kiss him as well?' Castle asked, clearly bemused and possibly a little bit put out.

'I promise you, we're just here for the beer,' Esposito said, carrying another three bottles over to the table and handing them out as everyone sat down. Well, most people managed to sit down - Peter had to tug a couple of times on Jared's sleeve before he remembered that his legs actually bent in the middle...

And after a less than a minute, Jared could just tell that he was sulking. 'What?' he said finally, turning to look at Peter.

'Nothing, nothing.' Jared waited. 'It's just... I mean, _I'm_ the fan, but _you're_ the one who gets the kiss from Nikki Heat. But, y'know, whatever...'

'You only had to ask, dude. It's all yours,' Jared said, and tilted his head up to kiss Peter. Okay, so there might have been a tiny bit more tongue this time around, but Jared called artistic licence. 

'Thanks buddy,' Peter grinned when they broke apart. It was only then that it occurred to Jared that kissing your partner might not be considered normal behaviour in other circles. He turned back to find that everyone was staring at them both, with a variety of interesting looks on their faces that they were attempting to conceal. With varying degrees of success!

'So, do you two actually have _any_ personal boundaries? At all?' Castle enquired politely, only saying what everyone else was clearly thinking.

'Sure we do,' Peter replied, starting to check them off with his fingers: 'No fooling around with close members of each other's family... Um...'

'No doing it on the couch if anyone else is home,' Jared added helpfully.

'Thank you... Oh, and at least check if your buddy's actually alone before you get into bed with him,' Peter finished.

'Yeah, there were a couple of awkward moments before we instigated _that_ one!' Jared grinned. It took a second for everyone to process the last piece of information.

'What? So you're partners who _sleep together_?' Esposito asked finally.

'What? So you're _not_?' Peter countered with a grin that appeared to be aimed directly at Ryan, who was starting to blush.

'Hey!' Esposito said, sounding slightly threatening, 'He's _my_ partner so you can take your eyes off him!' Then he suddenly seemed to hear what had just come out of his mouth and mumbled something along the lines of _'purely professional'_ into his beer and tried not to look anyone in the eye. Kate was biting her lip to keep herself from laughing as she stole looks at the still-blushing Ryan, and Castle suddenly found the cocktail menu enthralling.

_Boy, are there are some issues in this team_ , Jared thought to himself. At least the sexual tension between him and Peter wasn't repressed...

'So is there _anything_ your partner won't hit on?' Kate asked Jared once the smirking had mostly stopped. 

'Well,' Jared said, giving the matter some thought, 'Most furniture is pretty safe.'

' _Most_ furniture?' Castle cut in.

'Yeah, there was that one incident with the lawn chair, but...'

'Hey! I told you - I fell on it!' Peter protested.

'You just keep telling yourself that, buddy,' Jared chuckled.

**~~~~~~~~**

Eventually, what turned out to be a pretty enjoyable evening was starting to wind down, and after several more beers than Kate had intended to consume, people began to say their goodbyes.

'It's been a pleasure,' she said to both lawyers as they prepared to leave, 'And an education!'

'Well, if any of you ever find yourself in LA, there's always a party going on at the Man Cave,' Peter told them, 'And you all have a standing invitation to drop by any time.'

'Thanks,' Castle said, accepting the business card that was proffered, 'We might just take you up on that offer.'

When Peter and Jared finally left the bar, Kate drained the last of her beer and took a good look at her team. _They're good people_ , she thought, smiling to herself. Good people... who all appeared to be looking thoughtfully at the business cards in their hands.

'No!' she said, firmly. All three of them looked up at her and pretended that they had no idea what she was talking about. 'Come on, you can't seriously be considering it?' she said.

'Well, we do have the premiere for the _'Nikki Heat'_ movie...?' Castle ventured, 'Which I assume you're all coming to?' Ryan and Esposito both nodded. 'I mean, while we're in LA, we _could_...?'

'If we're in the neighbourhood, it might be rude not to?' Ryan added, hopefully.

Kate was too tired to argue with them; she just grinned and shook her head, 'If tonight's antics are anything to go by, you three are gonna get eaten alive!'

'What? We can handle ourselves with those two,' Esposito said, disparagingly. 

'Really? Just don't blame me if _'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas'_ needs to be extended to LA, that's all...' she said with a smile, standing up and putting on her jacket.

There was a lot of mumbling and some sheepish looks, as the rest of Kate's team acted as though they were merely planning to blow off a little steam and couldn't possibly see the harm in partying with a couple of lawyers who, Kate's research had told her, were known for being anything but conventional. Still, she figured that she could probably sit in judgement on them all a little while longer. They didn't need to know that Kate had already swiped one of the business cards from the table and slipped it into her pocket. She thought that she could probably do with blowing off a little steam too...

**~~~~END~~~~**


End file.
